An ambitious psychology professor is brainwashed into believing he's an alien by an amoral group of scientists. However, their experiment gets out of control when the professor begins acting Messiah-ish. There are definitely some laugh out loud moments in this film: Simon's first attempt in the sensory deprivation tank, Madeline Khan's goofy seduction of Simon, and, oh so funny, the TV worshipping cult of teenagers (their ritualistic chant in front of the "magic box" is alone worth watching). Alan Arkin gives a committed performance. But my favorite character was his girlfriend played by Judy Graubart. Best known for her stint on "The Electric Company", she provides a sweet sensible counterpoint to the film's general lunacy. And the message that ordinary isn't so bad is a decent lesson to promote. But the movie is just a little too weird and Arkin's character isn't terribly sympathetic. A bit of tweaking would have created a film more memorable.
